CatalogNow Documentation
AI-powered product catalog enrichment for Shopify. Generate descriptions, SEO content, categories, and tags — all from your Shopify admin.
Getting Started
CatalogNow enriches your Shopify product catalog using AI. It generates compelling descriptions, optimizes SEO metadata, categorizes products, and extracts attributes from images.
Install & Configure
Install from the Shopify App Store, add your free OpenRouter API key in Settings.
Sync Products
Import your Shopify catalog with one click. Products sync with all variants and metafields.
Run AI Enrichment
Click any product to enrich it, or use Batch Operations for bulk processing.
Review & Publish
Accept, edit, or reject AI suggestions in the Enrichment Queue before they go live.
Installation
- Install CatalogNow from the Shopify App Store
- The app will request permission to read and write your products
- Once installed, CatalogNow appears in your Shopify admin sidebar
First-Time Setup
Get an OpenRouter API Key
Go to openrouter.ai, create a free account, click "Keys" in the sidebar, then "Create Key". Copy the key (starts with sk-or-). Free models are available immediately — no credit card required.
Add Your Key to CatalogNow
In CatalogNow, go to Settings, paste your OpenRouter API key, click Validate Key to test it, then Save Key.
Sync Your Products
Go to Products and click Sync from Shopify. Your products will be imported with all variants, images, and metafields.
Start Enriching
Click on any product to open the AI workspace. Use the AI panel to generate descriptions, categorize, or run full enrichment. Review suggestions in the Enrichment Queue.
AI Enrichment
CatalogNow uses specialized AI agents for different enrichment tasks. Results are powered by OpenRouter, routing to free or paid LLM models depending on your configuration.
Single Product Enrichment
- Go to Products and click a product
- In the AI Enrichment panel (right side), click an action button
- Wait for the AI to process (may take 10-60 seconds)
- Results auto-populate the form fields and appear as Pending Suggestions
Reviewing Suggestions
AI suggestions appear in the Pending Suggestions section on each product page. For each suggestion you can:
- Accept — applies the suggestion, creates a version snapshot, syncs to Shopify
- Edit & Accept — modify the suggestion before accepting it
- Dismiss — rejects the suggestion without applying it
Product Sync
CatalogNow syncs your products from Shopify, storing them locally for fast AI processing. The sync includes:
- Product title, description (HTML), vendor, product type
- All images with URLs and alt text
- Variants with SKU, price, compare-at price, and inventory
- Metafields (custom fields) with resolved display names
- SEO title and description
Products are synced in pages of 50. After accepting AI suggestions, changes are automatically synced back to Shopify.
Batch Operations
Process multiple products at once for efficient catalog enrichment.
- Go to Batch Operations
- Select products using the checkboxes (or "Select All")
- Choose an action: Full AI Enrichment, Auto-Categorize, or Generate Descriptions
- Click Run
Enrichment Queue
The Enrichment Queue is your central hub for reviewing all AI suggestions across your entire catalog.
- Accept — applies the suggestion to the product and syncs to Shopify
- Edit & Accept — opens an editor to modify the suggestion before accepting
- Reject — dismisses the suggestion
- Accept All — applies all pending suggestions at once (backup created automatically)
Each card shows the product name, affected field, agent used, current value, and the AI suggestion.
Content Audit
The Content Audit page gives you a comprehensive view of your catalog's quality across three dimensions:
| Score | What It Measures | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| SEO Score | Title optimization, SEO title, meta description, category taxonomy | 35% |
| CRO Score | Product images, description quality, pricing strategy, key attributes | 35% |
| Completeness | 12 fields: title, description, images, SEO, tags, category, and more | 30% |
Products are sorted by lowest score first, so you can focus on the ones that need the most attention.
Backup & Restore
CatalogNow protects your data with automatic version history and backups.
Version History
Every product change creates a version snapshot. View the history on any product page and click Restore to roll back to a previous version. Changes are synced to Shopify automatically.
Automatic Backups
Backups are created automatically before batch operations and bulk accepts. You can manage backups in Settings > Backup.
AI Actions Reference
| Action | Input | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Generate Description | Title, existing description, category | HTML product description |
| Generate SEO Content | Title, description, category | SEO title (50-60 chars), meta description, keywords |
| Analyze Image | Product image URL | Colors, materials, style, category suggestions |
| Auto-Categorize | Title, description | Category path, confidence score, up to 10 tags |
| Full AI Enrichment | All product data | Combined: category, tags, SEO, description, vision |
AI Models
CatalogNow uses OpenRouter to access AI models:
- Free models (NVIDIA Nemotron, StepFun) — work immediately with no credits or credit card
- Paid models (Claude, GPT-4) — require OpenRouter credits
- Configure your preferred model in Settings
- Each store uses its own API key, encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM
The default model pool uses automatic fallback — if the first model fails or is rate-limited, the next model is tried automatically.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are free models?
OpenRouter offers free-tier AI models that work with CatalogNow at no cost. Select a free model in Settings to get started without a credit card.
How do I roll back a change?
Every product has a Version History section. Click "Restore" on any previous version to revert the product to that state. The change is synced to Shopify automatically.
What does "Sync Status" mean?
SYNCED means the product data matches Shopify. DIRTY means local changes haven't been pushed yet — they'll sync when you accept a suggestion or save changes.
Is my data safe?
CatalogNow creates automatic backups before batch operations and stores version history for every product change. Your API key is encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM.
How much does it cost?
CatalogNow is free to use. The only cost is AI model usage through OpenRouter, and free models are available. Each store brings its own API key.